Shaq Earns Respect By Not Playing

Sports forum - COMMENTARY

LOS ANGELES — To the list of human pleasures that are best appreciated after they're gone, a big one is hereby added. A 7-foot-1, 300-pound one.

Shaq, hurry back.

When Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers' $1.4 million-an-inch center, went on the injured list Feb. 13 with what the transaction scrolls describe as a hyperextended left knee, I wrote a column forecasting doom and gloom for the team.

The Lakers were in contention for the Western Conference's top playoff seeding when O'Neal went down. Compare that with where they stand in April, I wrote, and you'll know what he's worth. I guessed, ''everything.''

That turns out to have been optimistic.

O'Neal is better than many of us gave him credit for being when the Lakers signed him away from the Orlando Magic last summer.

And - here's the interesting thing - he's better than many of us gave him credit for being while we were watching him play 46 games this season.

The more I don't watch him play, the better I like him.

The less I see of him, the more I see his value.

With O'Neal, the Lakers were the best team in the Pacific Division, on their way to their best record since Pat Riley moved on. Without him, they have been a slightly better than .500 team.

With O'Neal, they were 36-13 and cruising to a favorable playoff seeding. Without him, they have been 12-10 (including their 106-84 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Forum on Wednesday) and slipping toward a No. 4 seeding and a first-round matchup with the increasingly formidable Portland Trail Blazers.

He could be back in action, at least part-time, on Wednesday, when the Lakers play host to the Denver Nuggets. That's what he says. Or he could be out until mid-April. That's the play according to management.

Whenever he returns, then we can go back to forgetting just how good he is.

The fact that Elden Campbell, the power forward who has made a temporary move back to center, has played so well doesn't diminish the impact of O'Neal's absence. It makes it more remarkable. Campbell is playing the games of his life and it's not enough.

Campbell can't intimidate the way O'Neal can. Which is why O'Neal's injury and strong defensive forward Robert Horry's knee sprain, which came less than a week later, were such a 1-2 blow.

When Shaq is there, he is easily underestimated. His gifts are not manifested in spectacular, windmill-dunking, rainbow-shooting sorts of ways. It's easy to ridicule his free-throw shooting, which makes some halftime contestants look good. It's easy, and fair, to say he shouldn't have been named to the NBA's all-time top-50 list.

But I've learned my lesson. So here's a promise. If only Shaq will come back, all the way back to full strength by the time playoffs open less than a month from now, I promise not to complain about those things ever again. Or at least until next season.